Key areas which may be pivotal

Without Victor Matfield calling the shots, Scotland will fancy their chances of upsetting the Springboks’ lineout rhythm. Last week Matfield was superb in the air winning nine throws while also stealing two.

Lood de Jager is new to calling the Boks’ sometimes complex lineout system and in Richie Gray, Scotland have dynamic lineout presence. Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis and De Jager will have to be in sync from the outset with accurate throws.

Seems obvious but it won’t only be about keeping missed tackles to a minimum but also about making dominant tackles. If the Springboks work up a head of steam and start building phases and momentum on the gainline, Scotland will struggle.

They are a good defensive unit and that suggests they are in a good place mentally. Scotland could use defence as a weapon.

Although Scotland will miss flyhalf Finn Russell through injury today, they have excellent goalkickers in Duncan Weir and scrumhalf Greig Laidlaw. South Africa’s goalkicking has been indifferent at this World Cup, which is an area of weakness, especially in what could be a tight match.

The addition of WP Nel to the Scottish starting lineup is a sure sign that they want to attack the Boks in the scrum early on. SA’s scrum was vulnerable in the early part of the match against Samoa and Scotland coach Vern Cotter clearly picked up on that. Nel has been fantastic in the setpiece this World Cup and he could cause Tendai Mtawarira some problems.

The inclusion of New Zealand born Blair Cowan, cousin of former Wallaby Pek Cowan, is intriguing. Initially left out of the squad, Cowan was added this week as a replacement for injured lock Grant Gilchrist suggesting that Cotter wants to beef up his options at the breakdown.

With another New Zealander, John Hardie, injured for this match, Cowan’s ability on the deck could be decisive.

Francois Louw was improved against Samoa but still hasn’t hit his best form yet. If Cowan can slow the SA ball and stunt their momentum, the Scots will be in the game.